Group Communications

Throughout your life you will have to communicate in group settings. It could be in a small group or large team, in the classroom, workplace or a virtual group online. Learning how to cooperatively set goals, adopt productive roles, center disagreements, resist groupthink and be a participative team leader are all critical skills I'm going to tell you about.

Focus on Goals

• Set an agenda
• Identify Items
• Stay on track
• Accomplish goals

Adopt Productive Roles

Usually in a group depending on a persons strengths you will be assigned a specific goal or task to complete.

Examples Include

• Recording Secretary-Takes Notes
• Moderator-Facilitates Discussion
• The Humanizer-Smoothes out tension
• Gate Keeper-Keeps the discussion moving and gets everyones input

Center Disagreements around Issues

When people come together to discuss an issue conflict is inevitable. Conflict however doesn’t have to be destructive, there is such thing as productive conflict.

In Productive Conflict group members

Groups prone to groupthink typically exhibit these behaviors

• Participants reach a consensus and avoid conflict so as to not hurt others' feelings, but without genuinely agreeing.
• Members who do not agree with the majority feel pressured to conform.
• Disagreement, tough questions, and counterproposals are discouraged.
• More effort is spent justifying the decision then testing it.

Be a Participative Team Leader
There will come a time in which you will have to take on the responsibility of being a group leader. I will tell you how to get your team mates to cooperate so that as a group you can reach your desired outcome.

There are four broad styles of leadership

• Autocratic- Leaders make decisions and announce them to the group.
• Consultive- Leaders make decisions after discussing them with the group.
• Delagative- Leaders ask the group to make the decision.
• Participative- Leaders make decisions with the group.

Set Goals- It is your responsibility as team leader to collaberate with other group members and ensure that every group member understands their purpose and what the desired outcome is.

Encourage Active Participation- Every group member needs to participate and come up with their own ideas to input to their team members, so that they've a part in setting the agenda.

To ensure every member in the group participates take these steps..

Directly ask members to contribute- Sometimes one, or a few people in a group dominate the discussion. In order to get input from everyone, direct the discussion towards whom ever is not speaking up. (Ragina I haven't heard from you yet" or "Jacob what do you think would be a good way to do this?")

Set a positive tone- Some people fear redicule or attack, so they don't speak up about their opinions. Minimize these fears by setting a positive tone, stressing fairness and encouraging politness and active listening.

• Clarify questions
• Challenge ideas
• Present counterexamples
• Consider worst case scenarios
• Reformulate Proposals

Issue based conflict allows team members to test and debate ideas in order to come up with potential solutions. It requires each member to come up with questions, press for clarification and come up with alternate views.

Resist Groupthink

Groupthink- is the tendency to accept information and ideas without subjecting them to critical analysis.